Skip to main content

Judge Quits in Disgrace: 1000s of Nude Pics Found of Male Defendants

By Jonathan R. Tung, Esq. on May 11, 2016 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

In some of the more ribald news we have had to discuss this year, Cross County District Judge Joseph Boeckmann stepped down from the bench after stories floated to the surface that he handed out softer sentences for men who went to his home and posed nude or who engaged in other related acts.

According to findings so far, the allegations against Boeckmann don't simply stem from recent times: some allegations date back as far as three decades ago, according to Associated Press.

"Did You Hear About the Boys?"

Not to say "it all started out innocently enough," but the state judicial commission had been investigating Boekmann concerning possible conflict of interest that might have existed in a completely unrelated elder care case. According to the commission's director David Sachar, "the dam broke" when court employees began asking investigators, "Did you hear about the boys?"

Trading Sex for Court Favors

Investigations by the state's commission found a litany of sordid tales, mostly involving young white males in their late teens to mid-30s; and the majority of them before the judge on traffic-related offenses. Men who appeared before judge Boekmann were apparently asked to go to Boekmann's house or some other location with a bag of canned goods on the pretense of going to a charity.

Instead, the judge would ask the same men to pick up the cans in the nude while the judge photographed them from behind. He would trade this for the mens' community service requirements.

A case in 2014 accounts Boekmann paying a man $300 to pose as Michelangelo's David. The commission also uncovered some 4,600 photos of men -- many of them defendants who stood in Boekmann's court -- engaged in "apparent" spanking and other foreplay acts.

Criminal Charges

No charges have been filed yet, but it appears to be only a matter of time. Hundreds of witnesses have already been interviewed and several dozen are known to be material witnesses in the scandal. Ex Judge Boekmann is still drawing benefits but his resignation likely means that he will never sit on a judge's bench ever again.

Related Resources:

Copied to clipboard